I had gotten out of the habit of journal writing, but I’m starting to do this again lately. It may seem sort of cliched these days, but there really are good reasons why writing a daily journal can be useful to the average person, especially those interested in writing. Here are five good reasons to start writing a journal today:

1. It’s good practice for writing. Whether you’re writing for a blog, writing stories, novels, or a weekly column for your local newspaper, a journal is a great place to practice your craft. Writing is something that does get somewhat easier with practice. I say somewhat because practice helps you to get better at putting thoughts into words and organizing them on a page, but the act of writing doesn’t necessarily help you generate those unique ideas in the first place. This leads to the next reason…

2. It helps you get ideas. Yes, journal writing, as opposed to other, more structured forms of writing, helps you to come up with ideas. The reason for this is simple: you don’t have the same constraints when you’re writing a journal for your own consumption as you might have if you were writing for your blog or column, etc. You can feel free to brainstorm and make a list of incomplete sentences. You don’t have to be self-conscious or embarrassed by what you write; it’s only for you. It’s much easier to just sit down and start writing when you’re writing in your journal. This is also why we have the next reason.

3. It’s great therapy. Your journal is the place to exercise those thoughts and feelings you don’t necessarily want to share with the world. Yes, some of those thoughts will come out as stories or blog entries some day, but the majority of what you write in your journal will most likely stay private forever. Your journal gives you a place to empty out the clutter in your brain, knowing that it’s safely stored somewhere you can process this emotional feedback later. The increased clarity is an obvious benefit to removing all those little things that nag at you. Now, I know you might be thinking of those tell-all journals of the presidents and VIPs that we hear about, but the truth is that those aren’t really private journals because the ones who write them are well aware that they’ll be exposed to the world some day and they’re written with that in mind. They do serve a useful purpose for the writers that your journal can also help with, though:

4. It’s a way of measuring your progress. Your journal can serve as a kind of audit trail of where you’ve been in your life. Have you ever seen on a television show where someone will be reading an old diary and say, “How could I ever have written that?” They’re making a comparison between the way the world appeared to them then as compared to the world of their today. You can do the same thing. You may want to remember how things were in the past in order to remind yourself of how far you’ve come and what you’ve gained. It’s often useful to remember that things may not have been as great back in the day as you remember them now. It’s also helpful to put things of the past into perspective. You’ve now overcome many of the obstacles that you once wrote in your journal about. A fresh reminder of your own resourcefulness and persistence can give you a renewed sense of purpose and positive outlook.

5. It can help you set goals. Not only can you see where you’ve been as you look back on your old journal entries, you can use your journal writing to explore where it is you want to go. Your journal is a place where you don’t have to stay within the confines of everyday life. You can think outside the box. This can be extremely useful in breaking out of the confines of what others think is possible. You can get a little crazy if you want to. No one’s going to be there pointing a finger and laughing (as long as you don’t leave it out for them to see!). It’s so easy to mentally get trapped in your own immediate environment. Use your journal to explore beyond those boundaries.

I’m sure you can think of a few more reasons for writing a journal. Feel free to leave a comment and let us know about them.